EDITORIAL – Council’s smoking ban fizzles out

Allegheny County’s new smoking ban isn’t as bulletproof as it might have been.

The… Allegheny County’s new smoking ban isn’t as bulletproof as it might have been.

The Tribune-Review reported yesterday that the city council added exemptions to the ban so that small businesses with fewer than 10 employees and less than 10 percent of sales coming from food can remain smoke-friendly establishments. The council also exempted volunteer-staffed fund-raising events from the ban.

The original ban “outlawed smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.” It also outlawed all smoking in the vicinity of health care facilities. After deeming the measure unenforceable, County Chief Executive Dan Onorato amended the ban to restrict smoking to 15 feet from facility entrances.

Onorato, who signed the measure on Oct. 4, pushed for five changes to the ban because of personal reservations he had about the ban. The changes included exemptions for small taverns and fund-raising events and eased up on smoking areas around health facilities. Onorato also called for “eliminating the standard for business entrances,” and he requested a one-year study to monitor economic impact from the ban.

Smoking ban advocates are upset about the exemptions because it will weaken the ban. According to the Tribune-Review, Tobacco Free Allegheny Executive Director Cindy Thomas believes that the exemptions will blur the lines for enforcing the ban.

“Exemptions make it less clear that the ban can be self-enforcing. If I go into a bar and there’s smoking, I have no idea what their revenue is. If I go to an event, I have no way of knowing if volunteers are working. It makes it more difficult for people to say you’re not complying with the law,” Thomas said.

There are also questions about the general legality of the ban. According to county solicitor Mike Wojcik, Pennsylvania counties, except Philadelphia, don’t have the authority to impose a smoking ban under state law.

“If push comes to shove and people challenge the smoking ban, we get knocked out on preemption. The council doesn’t have the right to pass the law,” Wojcik said in the Tribune-Review article.

The smoking ban will never be effective until it is completely comprehensive — no exemptions. There are always ways around laws with loopholes, and we’re disappointed that the council adopted these exemptions.

Any business can make a case for the exemption. Some bars might elect to reduce their menus or close their kitchens entirely. Because there is no record on tax forms of what percentage of earnings are from food sales, it’s difficult to determine which establishments qualify for the exemption on those grounds. Other establishments might choose to cut back their staffs or pay employees under the table in order to stay smoke-filled.

And whether or not the ban is legal is up to the state to decide. Hopefully, reason will prevail and the state will support Allegheny County’s smoking ban.

The ban was created to protect non-smokers and employees from unwanted secondhand smoke. You can’t play favorites with people’s health. The ban will only be successful and effective when there is no question or ambiguity about where you can’t light up.